Nairobi/Seattle (UNEP)* – A special issue of the Production Gap Report – from leading research organizations and the UN – finds that the COVID-19 recovery marks a potential turning point, where countries must change course to avoid locking in levels of coal, oil, and gas production far higher than consistent with a 1.5°C limit.
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 2020 (IPS)* – At the height of the Cold War back in the 1960s, a Peruvian diplomat, Dr. Victor Andres Belaunde, characterized the United Nations as a politically wobbly institution that survives only at the will– and pleasure– of the five big powers.
UN Security Council in session. Credit: United Nations
Simplifying his argument in more realistic terms, he said: “When two small powers have a dispute, the dispute disappears. When a great power and a small power are in conflict, the small power disappears. And when two great powers have a dispute, the United Nations disappears.”
And more appropriately, it is the UN Security Council (UNSC) that vanishes into oblivion, particularly when big powers clash, warranting a ceasefire, not in some distant military conflict, but inside the UNSC chamber itself.
Leading companies are turning a blind eye to the violence, exploitation and environmental destruction that is endemic in the global mining industry.
Kristin Palitza/DPA/PA Image | 15-year-old Richmond Asiamah working with mercury at a gold mine in Brong-Ahafo, Ghana
4 December 2020 (openDemocracy)* — The crunching sound of bulldozers came as a death rattle for men working deep in a gold mine in eastern Zimbabwe. On 15 November, contractors’ bulldozers converged on the mine on the outskirts of Mutare. They planned to “reclaim” it from the local community, who had been mining there independently with low-tech tools and without the backing of a company (known as artisanal or small-scale mining). However, the tonnes of soil and rock poured down the mineshaft to block up its entrances created a living grave for the men still at work underground.
4 December 2020 (Wall Street International)* — All economies are fundamentally based on the exploitation of the Earth and its resources, which are not infinite.
The most important oil companies constitute less and less transparent and more powerful economies (the case of Enrico Mattei teaches), more powerful than the States in which they are active.
Soil pollution a risk to our health and food security
Photo by UNEP / 04 Dec 2020
4 December 2020 (UNEP)* — Each year, the world marks World Soil Day on 5 December to raise awareness about the growing challenges in soil management and soil biodiversity loss, and encourage governments, communities and individuals around the world to commit to improving soil health.
New FAO report examines the potential of soil organisms in ensuring sustainable agri-food systems and mitigating climate change
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ROME, 4 December 2020 (FAO)* — Soil organisms play a crucial role in boosting food production, enhancing nutritious diets, preserving human health, remediating polluted sites and combating climate change, but their contribution remains largely underestimated, FAO on 4 December 2020 in its first ever report on “The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity“.
The report was launched today on the occasion of World Soil Day, marked on 5 December.
Soil biodiversity reflects the variability among living organisms including micro-organisms not visible with the naked eye, and macro-fauna like this little shrew. PHOTO:Marija Šajgen, Russia.
4 December 2020 (United Nations)* — Plants nurture a whole world of creatures in the soil, that in return feed and protect the plants. This diverse community of living organisms keeps the soil healthy and fertile.
This vast world constitutes soil biodiversity and determines the main bio-geochemical processes that make life possible on Earth.
The UN agency devoted to ending AIDS as a public health threat is calling on top politicians and governments across the world to ensure the right to quality healthcare is upheld, and not just a privilege to be enjoyed by the wealthy.
Patients seeking treatment at the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Credit: World Bank/Dominic Chavez
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 2 2020 (IPS)* – Wealth begets wealth. This simple concept of privilege has added to growing discontent with inequality that has escalated under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An additional 207 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030, due to the severe long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total number to more than a billion, a new study from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has found (*).
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UN News\Vibhu Mishra | A man, carrying a load on his back, in what is generally a busy business district in Kathmandu, Nepal. COVID-19 and the associated lockdown has hit people hard, with many daily-wage earners losing their only source of income.
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According to the study, released on Thursday, [3 December 2020], such a “high damage” scenario would mean a protracted recovery from COVID-19, anticipating that 80 per cent of the pandemic-induced economic crisis would continue over a decade.
Geneva, 2 December 2020 (WMO)* –– Climate change continued its relentless march in 2020, which is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. 2011-2020 will be the warmest decade on record, with the warmest six years all being since 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Patients seeking treatment at the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Credit: World Bank/Dominic Chavez
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 